Fibroids are benign tumors that nearly 30% of women will experience at some point in their lives.

Many of these fibroids do not cause any symptoms at all while some women suffer from debilitating symptoms that can adversely affect personal and social lives.

Fibroid tumors are excessive growth in the muscle of the uterine wall. They are not cancerous and are not believed to be precancerous. In other words, they do not grow into a tumor that may spread to other parts of the body. In very rare cases, fibroids that begin to grow very rapidly can become cancerous.

Fibroids can be the size of a microscopic seed or exceed the size of a small basketball. It is easy to see why tiny tumors may not be detected during a routine examination nor produce any symptoms.

Unfortunately, because more and more women are delaying their childbearing until their late 30’s, fibroid tumors may affect fertility.

Current research

Researchers now understand that these fibroid tumors are dependent upon estrogen levels in the blood. In other words, estrogen hormone is required to be present in order for these tumors to continue to grow and expand.

Interestingly it turns out that fibroids and menopause have usually been mutually exclusive. This is because the levels of estrogen in the body fall dramatically during menopause and therefore no longer stimulate the growth of the fibroid tumors. This loss of hormonal stimulation usually leads to the demise of these tumor growths.

In many cases, these fibroid tumors begin to resolve or decrease as a woman enters menopause. Women who develop fibroids during menopause, or after menopause, are at greater risk for developing fibroids that are precancerous.

Although some researchers believe that 30% of women will experience fibroids in their lifetime others believe that this number is much higher because many women will not experience symptoms at all.

Scientists are still unsure of how and why fibroids grow. In some cases, fibroids have been found to grow after menopause. These growths have a higher potential of becoming cancerous.

Risk factors for developing fibroids

Researchers have also identified specific risk factors that increase the potential of a woman experiencing fibroids in her later years.

These risk factors appear to be more common among African Americans/Canadian women, suggesting that there may be a genetic link. Women who have close female relatives also have fibroids are more likely to develop fibroid tumors with resulting symptoms.

Women who develop fibroids, often have heavy menstrual bleeding that can result in anemia. They will also have feelings of heavy pressure in the lower abdomen, bladder problems, bowel problems and lower back pain.

Some women will experience constipation, bloating and pain during intercourse.

When the fibroids grow large, it is very possible to feel a hard spot in the center of the abdomen where the fibroids are positioned.

Everyday plastic bottles and containers may pose fibroid risks

Some researchers now believe that xenoestrogens, a molecule similar in structure to estrogen and commonly found in pesticides and plastics have affected the number of women who are suffering from fibroids.

In 1993, at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dave Feldman, professor of medicine was experimenting with a yeast estrogen protein that binds to estrogen. He and his team found that the polycarbonate bottles, commonly used to hold bottled drinking water contained bisphenol-A.

Bisphenol-A binds to the estrogen protein found in the yeast. This polycarbonate plastic is routinely used for the giant jugs used in shipping water.

The Stanford team found that 2-5 parts per billion of bisphenol-A was enough to cause the breast cancer cells to proliferate. Professor Feldman noted that though bisphenol-A is 2000X less potent than estrogen, “it still has activity in the parts per billion range.”

A Dartmouth University Study showed that plastic wrap heated in a microwave oven with vegetable oil had 500,000 times the minimum amount of xenoestrogens needed to stimulate breast cancer cells to grow in the test tube.

Menopause and fibroids have always been mutually exclusive because of the dependence of fibroids on the presence of estrogen. Unfortunately, because of the amount of estrogen, or xenoestrogens, that is available in everyday plastic containers to hold milk, meat, dairy products and water, some women continue to experience tumors long after menopause has come and gone.

See “Natural Remedies for Treating Uterine Fibroids” >

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1. What Are Fibroids (fibromyomas, leiomyomas or myomas)?
2. Natural Remedies for Treating Uterine Fibroids
3. A Quick Summary of Female Infertility

The medical term for uterine fibroids is a leiomyomata (lie-oh-my-oh-mah-tah). Fibroids can grow as a single growth or can occur in groups within the uterus. As they grow larger and heavier the symptoms they incur are also larger. Women will have feelings of heaviness in the pelvic region as well as urinary urgency and frequency because of the size and weight of the uterus on the bladder. Larger fibroids can also cause constipation and pelvic pain as well as increasing amounts of monthly menstrual bleeding leading to anemia.

At this time researchers are not able to pinpoint a conclusive or definitive reason why fibroids grow in who gets them. But they do know there are significant risk factors for some women to get fibroid tumors. Fibroids are more common in women who are in their 30s and 40s, who are African-American or African Canadian and who have women in their own families who have suffered from fibroid tissue.

Women who are obese have a slightly higher risk for developing fibroids while women who have given birth are at a lower risk than women who have never had children. Researchers also know that fibroid growth and maintenance is dependent upon the presence of the hormone estrogen.

Doctors classify the type of fibroid a woman is experiencing based upon the location of the fibroid within the uterus. These tumors can grow underneath the lining of the uterus, on the inside of the cavity, between the muscles or on the outside of the uterus. The most common fibroids are those that are present within the wall of the uterus and not within the cavity or on the outside.

Fibroids continue to increase in number of those diagnosed as the years progressed. We do know that they decrease in size and may disappear during perimenopause and menopause. We also know that a woman has one fibroid they usually have another.

Thankfully fibroid tumors are not cancers and they are not pre-cancerous. They are totally benign overgrowth that occur in the uterus and uterine wall. They do affect the health and daily lives of many women and can be very frustrating to live with. Many women who have fibroids also do not have symptoms and the tumors may be picked up during the regular pelvic examination. Because they are benign tumors most doctors made no recommendation for treatment unless the woman begins to suffer symptoms.

One of the most significant symptoms a woman experiences its heavy menstrual bleeding each month. The bleeding often includes large clots and lasts beyond the usual five to seven days. This heavy amount of bleeding that lasts for longer periods of time has a secondary side effect, anemia. This results in fatigue, shortness of breath and a low blood counts that places the individual at higher risk for illness, infection and in the long-term, cardiac side effects.

Anemia affects the daily living abilities of any woman who suffers from it. She will struggle to do daily activities, climb stairs or exercise and the condition will affect the long term ability of the hear to pump adequately and effectively.

Anemia decreases the ability of the cells to gain the oxygen they need to survive. Because the heart is responsible for pumping the blood and the blood doesn’t have enough oxygen the heart must work harder to pump more. This increased workload on the muscle that also requires oxygen can cause long-term problems if the anemia isn’t addressed and the blood counts brought back to normal range.

Addressing the fibroids will ultimately cure the anemia but in the meantime women can eat a diet higher in iron, take iron supplementation and decrease their activity level to decrease the workload on the heart.

Related posts:

1. Natural Remedies for Treating Uterine Fibroids
2. Are Fibroid Tumors and Menopause Mutually Exclusive?
3. A Quick Summary of Female Infertility